Swim said the Mama fishy, swim if you can...

It's a funny old game this photography lark... sometimes you have loads of work, sometimes not, sometimes you feel inspired, sometimes you don't, sometimes you take what you think is a great image only for others to ignore it, whilst other times you post a nondescript image only for many people to seemingly like it... you see, it is impossible to tell, just what is going to make the grade. All you can do is keep putting the pictures out there and wait to see...  This Thursday was the deadline for the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Photography Competition - as you may be aware I have been looking to enter this and revisiting the site several times in an effort to capture something definitive, original, captivating.  I read that last year they had 5,000 entries - with each photographer being able to submit 6 images each, that is potentially 30,000 images - that was last year... how many will enter this year? Look at those figures... somehow one of my images has to stand out amongst all those... good luck to me...

Now this one wasn't submitted but it is one of my favourites - I do like the gold, blue and white, the shapes and the patterns...maybe I was wrong not to submit? I will never know..

With that out of the way, I was able to concentrate on more important matters - namely a shoot for the Arabian Swim Academy - a brilliant company that teaches people to swim using various pools around the city.  On Sunday I was at the Westin Hotel, shooting the babies class. Great fun was had watching the mums and dads with their little ones enjoying the water under the watchful eye of Melissa, the instructor/owner. I loved the light on the water and the smiles...

Next Monday I will be at Al Muna, shooting the older boys and girls as they go though their paces... that I am looking forward to...

This shoot was followed on Tuesday by a tutorial; you know, my pupil is really improving in leaps and bounds, she has a great eye and has been experimenting with using a light ball - the images look great and once we sort out the ISO problems will look even better. It is really rewarding to see someone blossom... All she needs is confidence... Next week w are meeting at The Heritage Village for a shoot and more practice with her new camera...Stay tuned for how that goes.

So, what else did I get up to? Well after a trip to sort out our car rental, I bumped into an old friend - a freelance journalist, whom I haven't seen for a while... I saw him from a distance and couldn't resist a few "pap" shots...

Well, he has an ongoing project to document the older buildings in Abu Dhabi and we have agreed to meet up on Sunday to shoot some more of them - I did some for him this time last year (crikey, was it that long ago?) so that is another shoot I am looking forward to...
















I also had to make a trip into town for other reasons and took the opportunity to do some street shots - wandering around the back streets of Abu Dhabi you really see a different side to this place...

Far removed from the posh cars and swish tower blocks... My personal favourite is the last one... I wonder what time he started work...

Now, I have been showcasing some archive shots from our time here and mentioned some from a visit to other places in the UAE, so today here are some shots from Al Ain - a city within the Abu Dhabi Emirate with a great oasis...

The oasis, with date palms and traditional irrigation channels...

The plantations are linked by a series of paved roads, these also provide a great place to walk in the cool shade...

 A series of gates and paths also run between the palms giving foot access to the irrigation systems...

And this is what it is all about - the production of dates...






























So, that about wraps it up for this week... updates as usual HERE and I hope to see you all next week...

In the mean time...

TTFN